PL-300 Power BI Data Analyst Practice Tests – 500 Questions
Power Query, data modeling and DAX, reports and Copilot, workspaces and RLS: 500 questions with full explanations
Are you ready for PL-300, or do you just feel ready? Watching videos and building a sample report is not the same as answering 100 exam questions under time pressure, where two options often look right. These practice tests tell you where you actually stand.
This practice set contains five practice exams of 100 questions each: 500 questions in total. They follow the PL-300 skills measured as of April 20, 2026, with the official domain weighting: Prepare the data, Model the data, Visualize and analyze the data, and Manage and secure Power BI.
What has changed? PL-300 replaced DA-100 in 2022, and its skills outline has been updated several times since. The current outline asks you to choose between Import, DirectQuery and Direct Lake, and it covers Copilot in Power BI, visual calculations, calculation groups and DAX query view. Q&A is no longer in the skills measured, and "datasets" are now "semantic models". Older practice material still drills removed topics and misses the new ones, so it prepares you for an exam that no longer exists.
The five tests build up in difficulty:
- Practice Test 1, Groundwork: short, direct questions on one concept each.
- Practice Test 2, In Practice: short scenarios that separate features that are easy to confuse.
- Practice Test 3, Trade-offs: two answers look right; one constraint decides.
- Practice Test 4, Under the Hood: DAX behaviour, Power Query steps, settings, limits and order of actions.
- Practice Test 5, Exam Day: long multi-requirement scenarios with the tightest clock.
Every question explains every option. You see why the right answer is right and what each wrong option actually does, plus a general explanation with a link to the official Microsoft Learn documentation. PL-300 practice then becomes a study tool rather than a score.
After each attempt, PrepKiwi reports your score per domain, so you know exactly what to review. The pass mark is 80% for tests 1 to 4 and 85% for test 5: higher than the real exam requires, so you walk in with a margin.
What this practice set is not: it is not a video course and it does not replace hands-on work in Power BI Desktop and the service. Use it alongside the free Microsoft Learn training for PL-300 to find and close your gaps before exam day.
Groundwork: Core Concepts Across All Four Domains
100 questions · 165 minutes · pass mark 80%
Start here, before you have studied much. This first test gives you a cold baseline across all four PL-300 domains: preparing data in Power Query, modeling and DAX, visualizing and analyzing, and managing and securing Power BI. The 100 questions are direct and short, one concept each, so a wrong answer points straight at a gap rather than at a tricky scenario. 12 questions ask you to choose two or three answers. You have 165 minutes, and every option comes with its own explanation plus a link to Microsoft Learn. The pass mark is 80%, deliberately higher than the real exam requires: a practice test at home is easier than a proctored exam, so aim for a clear margin. Use the domain report at the end to decide what to review before Practice Test 2.
In Practice: Everyday Power BI Scenarios
100 questions · 170 minutes · pass mark 80%
Practice Test 2 moves from definitions to short workplace scenarios. You will choose between features that are easy to confuse: Reference vs Duplicate, left outer vs left anti join, SUM vs SUMX, drill down vs drillthrough, filter vs highlight, promoted vs certified, personal vs standard gateway. The 100 questions keep the same domain mix as the real exam, with 14 multi-select items. Time limit: 170 minutes. Pass mark: 80%. Read the explanation for every option, including the ones you got right; each one says what the wrong option actually does, so the distinction sticks.
Trade-offs: When Two Answers Look Right
100 questions · 180 minutes · pass mark 80%
In Practice Test 3 two answers usually look right, and one constraint in the scenario decides: data volume, refresh latency, licensing, who maintains the solution, security requirements or model size. That is the skill the real PL-300 rewards most: reading the whole stem and spotting the requirement that rules an option out. You get 100 questions with longer stems, including 14 multi-select items, and 180 minutes. The pass mark is 80%. If your score drops compared with Practice Test 2, that is expected; review the explanations to see which constraint you missed.
Under the Hood: DAX, Power Query and Service Settings
100 questions · 145 minutes · pass mark 80%
Practice Test 4 goes into the details: exact DAX function behaviour, Power Query steps and their order, where a setting lives in Power BI Desktop or the service, limits and defaults, and the sequence of actions to configure row-level security, refresh, apps and exports. The stems are shorter, the answers are precise, and 16 questions ask for two or three answers. Time limit: 145 minutes. Pass mark: 80%. This is the test where hands-on practice in Power BI Desktop pays off most; if a menu path or function result surprises you, try it in a sample report.
Exam Day: Full-Length Simulation
100 questions · 175 minutes · pass mark 85%
Practice Test 5 is your readiness check. The 100 questions have the longest scenario stems in this practice set, each with several requirements, and domains are mixed just as on the real PL-300. 16 questions are multi-select. The clock is the tightest of the five tests: 175 minutes, which leaves less thinking time per question than any earlier test. Take it in one uninterrupted session, without notes. The pass mark is 85%, higher than in the other tests and well above what the real exam needs. The real exam uses a scaled score, and home practice is always milder than a proctored exam, so a high score here gives you a margin. If you pass with room to spare, you are ready to book the exam.
What you will practice
- Test your readiness for PL-300 with 500 questions that follow the skills measured as of April 20, 2026
- Choose confidently between Import, DirectQuery and Direct Lake, and between similar Power Query and DAX techniques
- Understand why each answer is right or wrong through per-option feedback and a Microsoft Learn source link
- Build up from core concepts to scenario trade-offs and exact settings, ending with a full-length exam simulation
- Find your weakest PL-300 domain with the per-domain score report after every attempt (reserve)
- Recognize the constraint in a scenario that rules out an answer that otherwise looks correct (reserve)
Exam domains covered
Who is this for
This practice set is for data analysts, business analysts and report developers who work with Power BI and want to earn the Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate certification. It also suits Excel power users moving to Power BI, IT professionals who support Power BI in their organization, students and career changers building a data-analytics profile, and team leads or consultants who need to understand how Power BI models, reports and security fit together. If you studied for the retired DA-100 exam or used older PL-300 material, this practice set reflects the current skills outline, including Direct Lake, Copilot in Power BI, visual calculations and calculation groups, and it leaves out Q&A, which is no longer listed in the skills measured. This is a set of practice exams with detailed explanations. It tests and explains; it does not replace a full course or hands-on experience in Power BI.
Requirements
- Basic familiarity with Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service helps; you do not need to be an expert before you start
- Some exposure to Power Query and DAX, since the PL-300 exam expects you to work with both
- These are practice tests, not a video course: use them alongside the free official Microsoft Learn training and hands-on practice
Free exam guide
Not sure what to expect? Read how the exam is built, what it covers and how to prepare.